The Panthers have signed DT Chad Lavalais who didn’t play football in 2006.  In 30 games in his 2 year career, Lavalais has made 41 tackles and had 2 sacks.  CB Chris DeLoatch was signed to be a reserve in the defensive backfield.  He played in 7 games last season for the New Orleans Saints and he made 9 tackles.  Safety Deke Cooper was the third player signed by the Panthers.  He only played 1 game last season for the San Francisco 49ers and he only made 1 tackle.  He has played in 57 games in his career and he’s made 157 tackles, had 3 interceptions, defensed 8 passes, forced 2 fumbles and recovered 2 fumbles.  These were good depth signings for the Panthers defense and special teams.

The Panthers re-signed Mike Minter for the veterans minimum to open up some cap room.  He played in all 16 games for the Panthers last season and he made 83 tackles, had an interception, defensed 6 passes and recovered a fumble.  Minter is still a good football player and he signed a cap friendly contract to stay with the Panthers, which is good for the team.

Dave Ball played in 10 games last season for the New York Jets and he made 1 tackle and defensed 3 passes.  Don’t expect to much from Ball as he will have a tough time making the Panthers next season.

The Panthers have given Jordan Carstens a one year contract.  Carstens was injured almost all of last season as he only played in 1 game and had 2 tackles.  In his three year career, Carstens has played in 29 games for the Panthers and he has made 50 tackles, has 4 sacks, forced 2 fumbles and recovered a fumble.  This was a good signing for the Panthers as Carstens is a decent reserve tackle.

The Panthers have given Morton a two-year contract.  Last year, Morton played in 7 games for the Panthers and he made 11 tackles, had an interception and defended a pass.  He will provide good depth for the Panthers this season and could also help out on special teams.

The Panthers have signed two reserve players to add to the depth on the defensive side of the ball.  Linebacker Terrence Melton played for the New Orleans Saints last season and he played in all 16 games for them and made 24 tackles and had a fumble recovery.  Melton should fit it nicely for the Panthers who always can use depth at linebacker because Dan Morgan is always out.

The Panthers also signed DT Stephen Williams.  Williams played in 11 games last season for the Kansas City Chiefs and he only made 4 tackles and recovered a fumble.  Don’t expect much out of him in 2007.

The Panthers finally got rid of Chris Weinke by releasing him today.  His horrible play of last season was the last straw as he simply had to go.  He played in 3 games last season (all starts) and he completed 56 of 96 passes (58.3%) for 625 yards with 2 TD passes and 4 interceptions (67.4 QB Rating).  He also ran the ball 4 times for 16 yards (4.0 ypc).  He played 6 seasons for the Panthers and he played in 27 games (19 starts) and he completed 373 of 687 passes (54.3%) for 3,800 yards with 14 TD passes and 26 interceptions (61.4 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 54 times for 148 yards (2.7 ypc) with 6 TD runs.  Hopefully the Panthers will go out and acquire a QB that can be their first legit backup in a long, long time.

The Panthers have re-signed Na’il Diggs to start at linebacker for them.  Diggs played in 15 games for the Panthers last season and he made 61 tackles and defensed 3 passes.  The Panthers will need a little more out of him this season if the defense is to improve.

Karl Hankton has played with the Panthers a long time, but he’s just been mostly a special teams player.  Hankton played in all 16 games and he caught 3 passes for 31 yards (10.3 avg).  For his career, Hankton played in 114 games (1 start) and he caught 20 passes for 267 yards (13.4 avg).  This will not be much of a loss for the Panthers.